September/ Twenty-Thirteen

School has begun, leaves are turning, the weather is turning cooler, and the calendar officially welcomed autumn.   Happy Fall to you all!

   

first day of school 2013 

“The best way to measure how much you've grown isn't by inches or the number of laps you can now run around the track, or even your grade point average-- though those things are important, to be sure. It's what you've done with your time, how you've chosen to spend your days, and whom you've touched this year. That, to me, is the greatest measure of success.”

― R.J. Palacio, Wonder

“Learning who you are is what you're here to do.”

― R.J. Palacio, Wonder

“My mom smiled at me. Her smile kind of hugged me.”

― R.J. Palacio, Wonder

Find your few square inches. 

Find the people you are to love, and love them well, love them deep. 

Find the place you are to love, for now, and love it – love it in the steady, anxious-free way of one who does not obsessively 

hop, skip and jump from one option to the next. 

Pay attention to what you must do in your world, and simply do it. 

For any other posture, I surmise, our lives are simply too short. 

http://winncollier.com/the-grace-of-the-short-life/

celebrating the year anniversary of our move 

to our neighborhood here on 16th Ave...

"Ring the bells that still can ring


Forget your perfect offering 


There is a crack in everything


That's how the light gets in."

-Leonard Cohen “Anthem”

http://celebrate-2day.blogspot.com/2013/09/there-is-crack-in-everything-thats-how.html

"Lord, give us the imagination to dream and catch glimpses of the life you intend us to live. Show us how our individual lives are entwined with those around us, and help us to live so truly together that we embody your good news in this world. Amen."  –Shane Claiborne Common Prayer

a race run in honor of dear friend Kim Kredich... 

and some words of encouragement for this season of life for her:  

“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”

― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

“Be comforted, dear soul! There is always light behind the clouds.”

― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

http://celebrate-2day.blogspot.com/2013/09/race-day.html

"Say words that sound good stuck on repeat." –Lisa Jo Baker

"WHEN GIVEN THE CHOICE BETWEEN BEING RIGHT OR BEING KIND, CHOOSE KIND.” ― R.J. Palacio, Wonder

17-18 Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor. James 3:17-18 The Message 

“If you feel your value lies in being merely decorative, I fear that someday you might find yourself believing that’s all that you really are. Time erodes all such beauty, but what it cannot diminish is the wonderful workings of your mind: Your humor, your kindness, and your moral courage. These are the things I cherish so in you. I so wish I could give my girls a more just world. But I know you’ll make it a better place." -- Marmee, Little Women”

 “Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle” ― J.M. Barrie quoted in Wonder

“If every person in this room made it a rule that wherever you are, whenever you can, you will try to act a little kinder than is necessary - the world really would be a better place. And if you do this, if you act just a little kinder than is necessary, someone else, somewhere, someday, may recognize in you, in every single one of you, the face of God.”

― R.J. Palacio, Wonder

a few favorite reflections this month:
http://celebrate-2day.blogspot.com/2013/09/i-will-come.html
http://celebrate-2day.blogspot.com/2013/09/ah-now-this-is-good-this-is-something.html
http://celebrate-2day.blogspot.com/2013/09/words-we-need-to-hear-today.html
http://celebrate-2day.blogspot.com/2013/09/wholehearted-parenting.html

so happy together...

This was a picture from this weekend when Jason and I went for a run together in the rain when we had some free time on Saturday evening on our retreat. 

WHAT FUN (and pretty great to have this guy as a running partner!) 

little pumpkin

So thankful for our little pumpkin... 

To Love Another Person...

"To love another person is to see the face of God..." 

― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

giving thanks for the gift of an amazing marriage retreat 

Jason and I have been on together this weekend....

(picture taken in the Methow Valley this summer)   

Praying in Color

A mentor pointed me to a fabulous website last year called Pray As You Go. While I used it on my own some in the spring, we introduced it to the kids this summer and have begun trying to use the prayers to slow down in the evenings a few nights a week as a family.  It has been a gift to share in it together. While we listen, we each have journals where we draw and "pray in color."  (see http://prayingincolor.com)

Below is one of Anna's pages from her journal last week:

As we shared a prayer around the room before heading up to bed, Anna prayed this prayer, and I scribbled it down as fast as I could so that I could remember it: 

"Dear God,

Thank you for our relationship with you and that we can give all our burdens to you.

Thank you that you know what we are going to say before we do--

Thank you for life and sea otters.

Amen." 

I too am thanking God for life and sea otters today, thanks to Anna...

a word to the wise

best piece of advice I've read this week: 

"Say words that sound good stuck on repeat." 

–Lisa Jo Baker 

Anna and Taylor with friends Yasmine and Tariq yesterday after school 

Harry Potter dress up 

Micah over for some fun in the kitchen to celebrate his 5th birthday 

stirring away... 

afternoon glory 

good day sunshine... 

what fun to have a little brother for the afternoon...

Ah, now this is good. This is something to work with...

Anna with a little white rock in her hand

 (after she had fooled me into telling me that she had lost another tooth!) 

The following is from one of my favorite writers, Winn Collier, from a post on his blog yesterday, and I think this is a fabulous reminder that when problems come that we really do have a chance to see them as opportunities to grow and learn (easier said than done like yesterday when Taylor was having a meltdown about not wanting to do homework or guitar practice or much of anything he needed to do.) But as you will see below, "Ah, now this is good. This is something to work with."

"Toss the heavy tomes to the side. Some of the best advice I’ve received for raising kids arrived via Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer. One might think I would be reticent to admit I snagged parenting cues from 30-minute bits aired on the National Geographic channel, but we all know this parenting gig scoffs at a man’s pride. The most intriguing Dog Whisperer episodes are when there is an especially troublesome canine. Perhaps a small pooch who’s diminutive size has given him an inferiority complex, and now he bites every person other than the one human he considers his “mommy.” Or a large brute who repeatedly rips the sofa and shreds the rugs and chews the wooden chairs like they are a rawhide treat. I recall one episode where a couple, married maybe thirty years, had their life completed upended by a little 9 pound fur-ball with a very large attitude. The emasculated man surrendered his bed and his place and became the third wheel. It was pitiful to watch. I am not a patient man. I would like to say that I am, but I am not. If I were living with any of these dogs, I do not know what would come of them, or of me. I do not know how that story would go, but not well. Cesar, on the other hand, exudes gentle authority. Cesar, with the benefit of edited tapes of course, rarely gets flustered. When a dog exhibits bad behavior, Cesar says, “Ah, now this is good. This is something to work with.” Gentleness has been my word for awhile. I want to be a more gentle man. Mainly, I want to be a more gentle father. When one of our boys presses hard on that magic button they so easily locate, the one that triggers my blood pressure and my nervous twitch, I want to just lower the shoulders and drop the rigorous energy and say, “Ah, now this is good. This is something to work with.” My high-pitched response to my boys’ foolishness (and it is often foolishness, let’s be honest) actually says more about me and the state of my soul than anything it says about the two rascals. Maybe my less-than-gentle reactions say something about my view of the world and the stock I put in keeping things in some semblance of order, maintaining the illusion that we are not swimming in chaos. But you just recognize these things and you move on. I imagine God getting a chuckle and saying, “Ah, now this is good. This is something to work with.”  -http://winncollier.com/cesar-knows-something/

I will come...

I got a call this morning from Anna about 15 minutes after I dropped Anna and Taylor off at school.  By this time, she had calmed down, but she had been really upset after I dropped her off when she realized that she left her flute at home today right after she saw me drive off. Two moms let her use their phones and she left one message that broke my heart hearing her voice that was quivering as she was trying to hold it all together.  I had run one errand on the way home and did not hear the first call as the phone was in the car. When she called a second time, I answered and she asked me if I could bring her flute to school.  As I thought about the day, I felt a bit flustered as I knew I had a long day ahead with four different meetings on deck, and this was not quite in the plans.  But, I figured I could throw my hair in a pony tail for the day and skip the shower that morning to make this work.  As I drove back down the hill, I began to give thanks that we had a car that I could use to zip down and take care of this for her.  I was so thankful for her tender heart and for the fact that she cares deeply about being prepared and doing well.  When I brought it into her class, she was so grateful, and it was a gift to be able to show up for her. 

Then this afternoon, my mom called me to check in. She asked about my running as I've had a few aches and pains the last few weeks.  She knows that I want to run well in the race coming up and she let me know that she was keeping this close to her heart.  As I had been able to show up for Anna this morning, it was such a gift to have Janie show up for me with her phone call this afternoon. 

I read this post below from Lisa Jo- Baker last month and it was spot on for today. 

It made me stop to thank God today for the gift of having a mom and of being a daughter and of being a mom and having a daughter... 

"......and I know this is a promise I can stake my life on.

I will always come.

When you forget your lunch. When you are sheep number 5 in the Christmas play.When you take up the recorder and bleat all the way through the Easter service. When you get that bad hair cut. When you think you want to be a beauty queen, when you swear off fashion altogether.

I will come.

When the mean girls make you want to shrivel inside your skin. When a teacher intimidates you. When you intimidate the teachers. When you think you can sing and try out for a musical, when you get laughed at and people point fingers at your hair and your shoes and your too bony hips.

My darling, I will come.

When that boy breaks your heart and you’re stranded at a college miles away, I will come. When the internship you thought was part of your calling falls through. When a friend gets sick. When the car crashes. When you have more long distance charges than you thought possible. When you run out of gas, chocolate chip cookies and faith.

I will be there.

When you say your “I dos,” when you you start your happily ever afters, when none of it quite feels like you thought it would. When you don’t know how to pick a mattress, when the sofa is in the wrong place, when you regret what feels like signing your life away to someone else. When you keep on keeping on. When you remember how to say sorry. When you need a safe place to say how cliche you feel all “barefoot and pregnant” I will so be there.

When the baby won’t sleep and the world’s on fire with sleep exhaustion.

Sweetheart, I will come.

When your husband’s out of work. When you’re down to one car and have moved in with his in-laws. When your job threatens to break your heart. When toddlers make you question your sanity. When you realize that you’ve made the worst mistake a woman can make. When you’ve run out of tears and still the tears keeping coming.

I will come.

When you move and move and relocate again. When you pack boxes and dreams and hope. When your life is a world of duct tape and questions. I will still come.

And when your home is warm and your heart is full. When you’re at peace. When you need someone to share the joy, to watch the kids, to admire the dimples. When you want to remember that old recipe for melktert, when you still can’t pick a sofa, when you wish you’d never said yes to the dog.

When you don’t know where you’re going. When you’re the most sure of yourself you’ve ever been. When you’re holding onto faith with just your fingernails. When you’re singing, “Jesus loves me this I know” and you mean it with every tiny, beautiful, miraculous part of your DNA -

...always I will come. One hundred different ways I will come when you call.

I will rock and roll you with my love and the promise that I will help you get back on your feet. I will hold your hand. I will rejoice. I will babysit. I will pass the tissues. I will wash the dishes.

I will come.

Tonight.

Tomorrow.

And the day after. And after.

And then some."  -Lisa Jo-Baker 

http://lisajobaker.com/2013/08/a-promise-for-my-daughter/

fish and chips

Anna and Taylor picked this out of my recipe notebook 

for kids cooking night tonight 

and whipped up some lovin' in the kitchen.  

Who can resist good ole' "fish and chips"? 

(fun to have a makeover of the classic below by Jamie Oliver)